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Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) increased its economic forecast for the 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) from 6.3 percent to 6.5 percent. According to HSBC economist Joseph Incalcaterra, the reason behind the boost is the strong domestic demand.

He also explained that the changes in US economic policies would not greatly affect the Philippine economic growth. “However, China has made investment commitments of $24 billion recently, which partly offset to the potential decline in FDI from the US,” Incalcaterra added.

The economic forecast may continue to grow since the Duterte administration aims to increase the investment in infrastructure. Incalcaterra also mentioned that the peso depreciation contributed in boosting the GDP growth forecast.

Meanwhile, HSBC increased their Philippine GDP forecast for the whole year from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent. The British banking and financial company also predicted that Asian countries aside from Japan, India, and China would likely grow by 3.5 percent.